Opening To Our Internal And External Environment

A practice of arriving and orienting to our internal and external environment, starting with feeling the connection with the ground, inviting a release into gravity, and noticing and allowing any resistance that may be here. Then there is an invitation to open the eyes and take in the space you are in - colors, shapes, objects, shadows, light - and noting what can be seen. This is followed by closing the eyes and internally scanning and noting what can be known in the body.

We then open our eyes again and have one more look around, in a slow and relaxed way, and end with one more internal scan.

Transcript

So we'll just begin by feeling the ground beneath us through the cushions,

The chair,

The bed,

The floor,

Whatever you're sitting or laying on.

You can close your eyes if you'd like.

Just noticing how it is to be sat here now or whatever position your body's in,

Just noticing how that is,

Without needing to correct anything,

Noticing what it's like to be in relationship with the ground as you are just now.

It may be that it's quite straightforward to let yourself kind of release into gravity or there might be a little bit of resistance there,

So just noticing.

And then we're just going to open our eyes when you feel ready and do a little bit of orienting.

So this is the practice of turning the head in one way or the other and just very slowly beginning to take in the room around you,

The colors,

The shapes,

Objects,

Shadows,

Light,

And as we look around maybe just noting a few things that you see,

A few things that appear to you.

Slowly making your way around to the other side,

So getting this 360-degree view of our environment,

Which supports the reptilian brain to feel safe and at ease.

And then as you feel ready,

Coming back to center,

Closing the eyes,

And doing a bit of internal scanning,

Seeing what you can notice in the felt sense in the body,

And again just noting a few things that are apparent to you just now.

Then we're going to look around again,

This time we'll start on the other side,

So if we started on the right,

Maybe turning to the left or vice versa,

And then once again just slowly in a relaxed way,

Just taking in what you can see,

Maybe new things jump out at you,

Noting three or four things in your mind.

And then again,

As you feel ready,

Coming back to center and just one more internal scan here.

You might want to take a few deeper breaths if that's comfortable for you,

And making note of anything that can be felt directly in the body just now,

Without putting any pressure on yourself for things to have to be different,

Just noticing if anything is different from when we began the practice,

Anything that's shifted or changed even subtly in your experience.

And then for a moment,

Just touching in to the heart center,

You could even put the hand there,

And as we connect with the heart,

Spending a few moments,

A few breaths,

Perhaps remembering what it is that's brought you here,

Whatever that intention or pull is that's brought you here,

Deep heart wish perhaps,

Or connection,

Space,

Inspiration,

Transformation.